Iran seizes foreign oil tanker carrying 6 million litres of smuggled Diesel in Gulf of Oman
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Iran seizes foreign oil tanker carrying 6 million litres of smuggled Diesel in Gulf of Oman")
This grab taken from a video released by Iran's Army office on April 28, 2023, shows the Advantage Sweet oil tanker before being seized by Iran's Navy, off the coast of Oman. A US-bound oil tanker seized by Iran off the coast of Oman was carrying 24 Indian crew, the vessel's operator said, adding it was working to secure their release. Photograph: (AFP)
Iranian authorities have seized a foreign-registered oil tanker carrying 6 million litres of smuggled diesel in the Gulf of Oman, detaining 18 crew members.
Iran has seized a foreign-registered oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman and detained 18 crew members in the Gulf of Oman on December 12. Iranian judicial authorities claimed that it was carrying 6 million litres of smuggled Diesel fuel. The information was broadcast by the Iranian state media Tasnim News, citing provincial judiciary officials in southern Hormozgan Province. However, the details of the official name or the public state have not been confirmed yet. According to a report by the AFP, the vessel had crew members from India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.
"In addition to the organised transportation of smuggled fuel, the tanker ignored the order to stop and attempted to escape," said Mojtaba Ghahremani, head of provincial judiciary in Hormozgan. He also alleged that the tanker lacked proper navigational and cargo documents and its radar was turned off.
Iranian officials have alleged that the tanker's cargo was illegaly smuggled out of Iran as it has very low fuel prices owing to its subsidies. Iran has similarly seized tankers carrying 3 million litres in March, 100,000 litres in April, and 2 million litres in July. Last month, the IRGC said that it seized a small tanker named Talara. The oil tanker had reportedly diverted from the
United Arab Emirates to Iranian waters. The incident comes at a time when the United States has seized an Iran-linked oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela this week. The vessel was sanctioned by the US in 2022 for allegedly assisting in the smuggling of Iranian oil as part of a network led by Ukrainian national Viktor Artemov. While they seem independent occurrences without any legal and operational relations but they highlight a broader pattern of tit-for-tat maritime pressure.
